The President announces the “Educate to Innovate” initiative, a campaign to get students excited about pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Quotes from President Obama from his speech – (see webcast above):

“As President, I believe that robotics can inspire young people to pursue science and engineering.”

“Now the hard truth is that for decades we’ve been losing ground. One assessment shows American 15-year-olds now rank 21st in science and 25th in math when compared to their peers around the world.”

“And today, I’m announcing that we’re going to have an annual science fair at the White House with the winners of national competitions in science and technology. If you win the NCAA championship, you come to the White House. Well, if you’re a young person and you’ve produced the best experiment or design, the best hardware or software, you ought to be recognized for that achievement, too. Scientists and engineers ought to stand side by side with athletes and entertainers as role models, and here at the White House we’re going to lead by example. We’re going to show young people how cool science can be.”

“improving education in math and science is about producing engineers and researchers and scientists and innovators who are going to help transform our economy and our lives for the better.”

Wow, talk about incentives! It’s cool of Pres. Obama to offer White House space to encourage people to pursue engineering and the sciences generally…

Anonymous November 24th, 2009 @ 5:07 am

I feel very good after reading this article. The president is giving fair in white house.I think i also need to do something. Thank you very much for the such a valuable article…

Anonymous November 25th, 2009 @ 1:55 am

I think it is important to build student’s interest in science and engineering

Jem November 26th, 2009 @ 7:07 am

This is an amazing idea to get kids interested in these type of subjects it can only better their lives in in the future. I think Obama is an amazing president. He has actually done alot in the short space of time
he has been president.

Anonymous November 30th, 2009 @ 8:34 am

While I think it’s a good thing that Obama tries to raise interest in science and technology I feel a bit sad that the “social sciences” (literature, linguistics, psychology, philosophy, etc.) are getting pretty much no support at all. People should get more chances to see that those have their uses, too although it might not be as obvious as it’s for the natural sciences.

[…] of National Lab Day, praised President Obama’s announcement. “Our children deserve a world class science and math education that includes exciting, hands-on lab experiences,” said Hidary. “Whether you are a […]